Thing-O-Matic Z Stage Assembly

Summary

Building the Z Stage should take approximately 30 minutes.

Parts List

These are the parts you'll need to assemble the Z Stage. All laser-cut parts should have their names etched into them. Find and put aside these parts:

flickr:5159073936
  • Laser-cut Stage Parts
    • Z Back
    • Z Top
    • Z Bottom
    • Z Left Side
    • Z Right Side
    • Z Ribs
  • One Z Motor Flange*
  • Four (4) M3x10 socket cap bolts
  • Eighteen (18) M3x16 socket cap bolts
  • Eighteen (18) M3 nuts
  • Four (4) 3/8" self-aligning bearings

*The Z Motor Flange ships on the precision threaded rod in the Thing-O-Matic Motor Kit.

Insert Press Fit Bearings

Snap them into place on the Bottom and Top pieces. Make sure they don't wiggle or move. If they do, simply add some hot glue or super glue to hold them in place during use.

flickr:5165237026
flickr:5164631551

Attach Ribs to Back

Secure the two Rib pieces to the Back. These ribs are symmetrical, so they just need to look like the picture.

flickr:5164635079

Attach Left and Right to Back

Secure the Left and Right sides to the Back. In the newest versions the printed text goes right-side-up on the inside. In older versions (pictured below) the printed text goes on the outside and ends up upside-down.

flickr:5164627697
flickr:5164625697

Bolt Z Motor Flange to Top

If your are building the your Bot for use with a Heated Build Platform, we recommend that the flange is placed above the top plate, rather than below, as pictured. This allows for additional travel of the Z stage below the height of the Automated Build Surface platform level. Just flip the flange and install it with the neck of the flange pointing up.

Your Thing-O-Matic may come with one of two brands of Z motors. The Kysan motor is black and metalic. The Moons motor is all black. This step is slightly different for each brand of motor.

Kysan stepper motor

Secure the flange nice and tight using four M3x10 bolts. The hole may require some slight sanding to allow the flange to fit.

If your kit contains two top plates with slightly different bolt spacings, just use the one that fits the Z Motor Flange included in your kit.

flickr:5165255874

Moons stepper motor

Place the nut flange on the top plate with the neck facing out. Insert four M2x10 bolts through the nut as shown. When assembling the Z stage this side should face upward.
flickr:5515625057

Place an M2 washer on the back of each bolt. Screw a nut onto each bolt and tighten.
flickr:5516216074

If your kit contains two top plates with slightly different bolt spacings, just use the one that fits the Z Motor Flange included in your kit.

Attach Top to Assembly

This will lock things in place nicely. This piece is also symmetrical. It's not shown in this picture, but you should use bolts on the ribs here as well.

flickr:5165230298

Attach Bottom to Assembly

This will "seal the deal" and complete the assembly. This piece is also symmetrical. It's not shown in this picture, but you should use bolts on the ribs here as well.

flickr:5158471645

Tighten It All Down

Now that it's all together, tighten all the bolts with 1/4- to 1/3-turns past hand tight.

flickr:5167482764

Congratulations! Your Z Stage is now complete!

Next Step: Build the Extruder that came with your kit!.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.